Scene In…

Now Playing

Bottling up the trash

Susan Freinkel | Photo: Courtesy of Method | December 14, 2011

Leave it to a company whose motto is “People against dirty” to be the first to find a way to recycle the millions of pounds of plastic trash that swirl in the currents of the North Pacific Gyre. Method, the San Francisco maker of green cleaning products, has unveiled the world’s first bottle made with “ocean plastic.” The company, with recycling partner Envision Plastics, spent more than a year developing a system for washing, detoxifying, and reprocessing the plastic debris that washes up on Hawaiian
beaches from the gyre. (The bottle is expected on the market in early 2012.) It’s not a practical way to clean up the ocean, but Method cofounder Adam Lowry says his main goal is to raise awareness of plastic pollution. “As long as we make more and more virgin plastic, the problem gets worse. the idea is to use the plastic that’s already on the planet.” Of course, if you really want to do the ocean a favor, he adds, don’t even keep buying recycled-plastic products; just find a way to use the ones you already have. METHODHOME.COM